The Path Taken
by Anthony1
Summary: As we go through life there are multiple paths that we may take. Find out what paths that Daisuke and the others will take while they deal with what comes their way.
1. Serenity

As I promise, here is the next installment to my series. Before this chapter starts I want to touch on a few things. It's been apparent that the people who have read the series have been wondering what's the deal with this Serenity person that I've mentioned occasionally. Well, hopefully you'll understand by the end of this chapter. Anyways, I won't waste your time any further and allow you to get to the chapter. As of the disclaimer, I don't own digimon.

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The Path Taken

_They say that blood is thicker than water. Maybe that's why we battle our own with more energy and gusto than we would ever expend on strangers.  
__David Assael, Northern Exposure, Family Feud, 1993_

Chapter 1:  
Serenity

"So, how is our little lady doing?" asked the female higher ups to the lead scientist as they were watching some girl going through what looked like an obstacle course of some sort.

"Remarkably well I must say. She has far surpassed all of our expectations with all of the tests that she has undergone. I believe in due time she'll have no equal."

"But I wish to know is she ready _now_? Is she able to do the job that she needs to do?"

"Well, she does appear to be capable of doing the job. However, we don't know what would happen if she were to get involved in a fight against a possible tougher opponent."

"It does not matter." informed the higher up. As long as she is able to do what she is meant to do then everything will be good." Heading over to the panel the yet identified higher up pressed a button that turned on the loud speaker. "That's enough training. Give yourself a break."

Following the advice, the girl went to a nearby bench to get herself cooled off. "Your training has gone remarkably well and that is why it has been decided that it is time for you to finally deal with out little nuisance. How does that sound?"

The girl said nothing for about a minute. Then, without warning, she drove her fist right through the bench as if it was nothing.

"I believe we got our answer." spoke the scientist who could see the smile that was forming on the higher up's face. _"Is this what we're reduced to? Having a child fight our battles?"_

-/-/-/-/-

"How much longer are you going to be working on that thing?"

"For the thousandth time I don't know so quit asking me."

"Why don't you two acted like adults and not a bunch of children?" spoke a third voice that fortunately had stopped the other two from continuing with their arguing.

"But Daisuke, it has been almost two months since you were able to get the box from the Takenaka Corporation. Don't you want to know why they were so dead set on getting it?"

Indeed, it had been basically two months since dealing the corporation and none of them had heard a peep from them that entire time. With nothing really happening, it gave Daisuke and the others time to relax and recover from everything that they had gone through recently. However, that didn't mean it was a peaceful rest.

"Of course I do Hikari. But I'm not going to nearly bit Ken's head off because he hasn't finished with the translations yet." What Daisuke was saying was true. When he returned with the metal box they opened it to discover that there were two items inside. The items were two rolled up scrolls that were written in a strange language that none of them understood.

"Thank you Daisuke for the support and also I apologize for not figuring out these scrolls any faster. Even after two months of study I still haven't been able to translate much of it with the exception of a few words and phrases." Grapping one of the aforementioned scrolls, Ken groaned when he saw that he could hardly understand the strange language better than he did from the start. "Whatever is written on these scrolls we better find out what it is because it's only a matter of time until the Takenaka Corporation tried to retrieve them. We can only guess what they would do if they got their hands on them."

As the conversation continued, Miyako and Mimi returned with a few books tucked underneath their arms. "We have returned and we come with information." said Mimi in an attempt of humor.

Dropping the books onto the desk Ken picked up one of the books and skimmed through it. "I believe that with these new sources I can figure out what else is written in the scrolls but it'll take some time to do so."

"Oh, great, more time. That's all we need for our troubles." muttered Hikari.

"It's no problem really." remarked Daisuke offhandedly. "Despite that we have to be on guard until the text is translated it doesn't mean that we need to be totally focused on it. Until it's done we can allow ourselves to have some rest. Does that sound good to you guys?" Getting no complaint from any of his friends it was clear to see what their answer was. "Come on you guys. Whatever the Takenaka Corporation could have planned we'll be sure to handle it."

-/-/-/-/-

"So this is where you've been hiding." Inside a small room was the same girl that had been training earlier and now she was watching footage of Daisuke and his friends from previous fights.

"It still confuses me." said the girl in a calm voice. "Vampires have been known as one of the lowest creatures in the demon world and have considered humans as nothing more than cattle for them to feed upon whenever they please. However, this particular vampire seems to be different than the rest."

As if helping to prove her point she pointed to the monitor just as it was showing Daisuke as he was protecting the Santo children from some of the Jackson Industries' hired men. "There's an example right there. He was willing to put himself in danger to protect people he doesn't even know. Why would he do such a thing? It just doesn't make any sense."

"That's one of the reasons why the higher have such an interest interested in him." elaborated the scientist. "That's why you're here. So that you can confront him and if able bring him here where we can _persuade_ him in working for us." the scientist informed. "For now though you should rest up since you'll soon have to confront that vampire and you can't possibly face him if you're exhausted."

Deciding to follow the scientist's advice the girl got up and started to leave the room but stopped at the doorway. "Thank you Rowan for all that you're doing. I appreciate it." With that said the girl exited the room leaving the scientist, now identified as Rowan behind.

Once she was gone a look of uncertainly came across Rowan's face. Leaving the video archive room, she headed towards her private lab which was stocked with the latest science technology that was at her disposal. Sitting on one of the stools she simply collapsed onto the table as if she was letting go of all the tension that she was holding in. It wasn't until she heard a beeping sound that she composed herself.

Pushing a button a portion of the wall came apart to reveal a monitor that had three shadowed figures on it and despite that she couldn't see any of their faces Rowan already knew who they were. "Hello sirs. May I ask what did I do to deserve to have your presence bestowed upon here?"

"We're contacting you to discuss about the girl." answered the female higher up.

The answer caught Rowan off guard. "Serenity? Was could you possibly want to discuss that involves her?"

"You have already stated that Miss Serenity was prepared to take care of the problem that we've been having lately. The question though if it becomes necessary could she take him out once and for all?"

"Perhaps she could if she had no other choice but if I may, sirs. After conversing with Serenity I come to the conclusion that perhaps now isn't the time for her to confront her eventually target. It may cause some complications if we allow her to go after Motomiya at this time."

It seemed as though that the higher ups were considering the notion. "We value your opinion Rowan. We'll take your words into consideration. This ends our discussion." With that the monitor went to black, signaling that the connection was severed.

"_Yeah, you'll think about it my ass."_ thought Rowan. _"They'll still send her out despite the justified concerns. I just hope that Serenity comes out of this all right."_

-/-/-/-/-

"So what's on the agenda tonight you guys?"

"Well Daisuke, I think I can speak for all of us when I say that there's nothing planned except for relaxing." exclaimed Hikari who was sitting across from Daisuke.

"Come on, you can't be serious? I mean, the night is young and patrolling has been slow lately. So we shouldn't waste this opportunity to have some fun by just sitting on our asses. Give me a reason why we should do nothing more than relaxing?"

"I'll give you one. Ken has practically worked nonstop for the past four days translating those scrolls and the same can be said for Miyako and Mimi who have been trying to help him. As for myself, I've been doing numerous photo shoots that have almost been back to back. Face it Daisuke, the four of us are exhausted from the past couple of days and we wish to recover from them or we'll be in no shape to help you if there's any trouble."

Knowing that what Hikari said was true, Daisuke let out a defeated sigh. "All right, I give up. You win. It's just that things have been so slow these last couple of days and I've been itching for some excitement."

Out of nowhere the sound of the front door being broken through could be heard. "You had to jinx it didn't you?" asked a not so amused Hikari. Not bothering to even answer the two of them headed off to see what the cause of the commotion was. They weren't the only ones as Ken; Miyako and Mimi son joined them.

"Hey Daisuke, what's going on?"

"I don't know Ken. But I think it has something to do with her."

Pointing over to the now destroyed doorway was a girl who probably was only a few years younger than the group. She had auburn eyes which were about the same color her hair that went down to the center of her back but was kept in a simple ponytail. The type of outfit that she was wearing was a dark red shirt that was almost skin tight and black pants. On closer examination they noticed that she was armed but it was impossible to tell what type of weaponry she had.

"Boy, you just love to make an entrance don't you?" joked Daisuke in an attempt to lighten the mood of the situation. "I mean, you could've just knocked instead of busting through my door, which by the way gets a little tiresome to fixed up after a while. Anyways, what's the purpose of you coming over?"

The girl remained silent for a few moments as she simply looked at them. It looked as though she was sizing them up. "The name's Serenity and I'm here to take you to my superiors, Daisuke Motomiya."

"Is that so? Let me guess who your superiors are. Could they be the Takenaka Corporation? Was I able to get it on the first try?"

Instead of answering with words, Serenity reached behind her and pulled out a fighting sword and positioned it in a way as if to say 'let's fight'. She didn't even give Daisuke a chance to respond as she charged straight at him. Fortunately, Daisuke was able to react quickly enough by grabbing her by the arm and while turning around toss her over his shoulder. "My, don't you have a lot of spunk for such a young one. Could there be more to this than just a job for you?"

Serenity's response was simple yet effective as she drove her shoulder into the gut of Daisuke. Using the momentum she continued to push him to where they actually crashed through one of the windows. Not being ones to be left behind, Hikari and the others hurried outside so they could see what was now happening.

What they saw was the two of them in a test of strength type hold and it looked as though the two were about even. After struggling to gain some sort of advantage they broke away from one another and were now staring at one another with determined stares.

"Do you want to know something interesting?" asked Daisuke from out of the blue. "You said that your name is Serenity. However, as far as I know doesn't the word serenity mean calm, peaceful, tranquil and things like that? Don't tell me that I'm the only one who sees the humor of how the name is a complete contrast to the owner of it." Not even getting the slightest chuckle from his remark Daisuke returned to his serious mode. "If you still wish to continue our fight then I'll be more than happy to do so. All I ask is that we have a change of venue for it to take place. So we won't have to worry about causing property damage or having someone getting in the way. What do you say about that?"

Serenity just remained there, readied to attack in an instant. Fortunately though, she eventually put away her sword. "I agree to your terms. Meet me at the rundown fish packing warehouse on the other side of town within the hour. If you don't show up I'll return to take you to my superiors and take out anyone who gets in my way." Having said that Serenity turned around and left.

After she left, Daisuke hurried back into his house and headed straight towards the weapon's cabinet. "Daisuke you can't actually be thinking about fighting that girl again are you?" questioned Mimi as she and the others came in.

Pulling out a dagger from the cabinet Daisuke stuffed it into his coat. "Yes I am. You heard what she said. If I don't show up she'll comeback to get me. So instead of waiting for her to come after me, I'll go after her." Strapping on the device that his collapsible sword came from to his wrist he headed out to keep his appointment.

"Well, if that's the case you won't mind us joining you." They were prepared to head out but Daisuke stopped them.

"I don't think so. This is something that I need to do on my own. Besides, I need you guys to do something for me. While I'm dealing with this Serenity girl, you guys will help Ken in hacking into the Takenaka Corporation's computer system and try to find out more about our recent visitor." It was obvious that none of them were all that enthusiastic about the idea. "Please you guys, I know that you're worried about me doing this but I promise you I'll be careful."

Retrieving his last bit of necessary weapons Daisuke headed towards the wrecked doorway. However, just before leaving he looked over his shoulder to his friends. He gave them a nod as if to say 'I'll be seeing you again soon' before headed out.

-/-/-/-/-

In no time Daisuke managed to arrive at the predetermined destination. "So you actually showed up voluntarily." spoke Serenity from somewhere in the building but it was impossible to tell where.

"Well, you know me, never willing to back away from a fight. Now why don't you come out so we can get this over with?"

"All in good time Daisuke. But I'm going to have some fun with you first." Nothing more was said as the entire place was consumed by darkness with the only light source being the street lights that were coming through the broken windows.

Going onto the defensive Daisuke tried to ready himself for whatever Serenity had planned as he was unable to tell where could possibly be. "Before we go ahead with this answer me this. Why are you so determined to take me down? Also, what exactly are you?" For a while there was no response and he figured that maybe he might have hit a sensitive spot.

"Does it really matter what my reasons are for doing this?" questioned Serenity from the shadows. "And if you're so curious about what I might be why don't you use those keen vampire senses of yours to find out?"

"That's just it. I've already tried and no matter how many times I check I keep getting the same result. Every time I get the sense that you're not a vampire or any other demon that I know of. However, I do get a trace of human from you but at the same time it's slightly off from an average human. In other words, you're not one of those run of the mill humans. So cut the crap and tell me what you are."

To somewhat Daisuke's surprise, Serenity just walked out of the shadows and stood right in front of him. "No thanks on the offer. But I might change my mind if you're able to defeat me in combat." Reaching back she pulled out her sword. "Do you accept my terms vampire?"

Daisuke's response was a simple one as his face went into vampire form and brought out his collapsible sword. "Let us begin."

-/-/-/-/-

"Has anyone found anything yet?" The silence was all the answer that Ken needed.

"This is pointless!" hollered Miyako as the frustration was getting to her. Soon after Daisuke left the rest of the gang went right to work in figuring out more about Serenity. "We've been going at this nonstop and we haven't found anything that could be of any use in helping us. We should forget this and go after Daisuke."

"That is no even an opinion Miyako." exclaimed Hikari. "Daisuke gave us a job to do and we've got to do it as soon as possible."

"Speaking of which, here's something that'll not only shock him but all of us." Surrounding themselves around Ken they looked at the computer screen which had a picture of Serenity with what looked like vital information beside it. "I was able to hack into the corporation's secret files and came across this." As he was saying this he began to print up a copy of what he found.

"It seems as though our recent troublemaker has somewhat of a connection with Daisuke. Apparently after his run in with the higher ups when he went to save Takeru, some of his blood was spilled. Then for the past ear they've been using that blood to create something and I'll give you one guess what that thing was."

"Are you saying that girl is some how a clone of Daisuke?" asked Mimi.

"That's not exactly correct. They tried to do cloning but that was a failure. So they did the next best thing which was combining it with traces of human blood."

"Is there anything in the file about what the second 'donor was?" questioned Hikari.

"As a matter of fact it does." Scrolling down a picture of a woman who they presumed is where the second source of blood came from. "According to this the blood was from some woman named Katara."

Hearing that name caused Hikari to recall something that she was told. "I know who that is. Daisuke told me that she was the person who trained him after he became a vampire. He also said shortly after he had completed his training she disappeared without a trace. I guess we discovered the reason why."

Everyone was silent for the moment as they allowed everything that they've discovered to sink in. The silence would be broken by Miyako. "Then if all this is true, then what type of connection does Daisuke have with Serenity?"

"I'm not all that sure but I had to identify it the best way would be like a father and daughter." declared Ken with uncertainly.

Hearing all that she wanted to hear, Hikari headed for the door. "I think we get all the information that we need. So who's going to come with me to tell Daisuke about this?" Following their friend's lead, the rest of the group went to join her.

Not wanting to waste another minute they hurried to the door but just as they were about to leave, several heavily armed men stormed in and surrounded them. "Man, we really need to improve that early warning spell that we've installed. Maybe we would've had time to prepare for this."

"It wouldn't matter if you upgraded your little spell." spoke a voice from outside the building. Slowly a black haired woman entered the scene by standing behind the armed men. "I mean, we'll just get pass it like this one."

-/-/-/-/-

Neither one spoke or moved as the two were waiting for the right to strike. "How about we skip the warm up and just get straight it?"

Bringing his sword up to where it was right in front of his face, Daisuke had a look of absolute determination on his face. "I couldn't agree more. Let's do this."

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I hope that you readers like that chapter. Also, I hope that you like how I explain the whole Serenity origin because I felt that it was the best way to go with it. As this story goes on you'll see that it'll mostly involve with the paths that characters will take, hence the title of the story. Before you go I hope that you be kind enough to leave a review. 


	2. Daughter

You may already realize that this chapter is being updated a little sooner than the previous ones have. The reason for it is because I've been able to speed up the progress of my series just a bit. It would've been out a few days ago but was caught up with other things that kept me busy. Whether this'll happen again soon is up in the air.

I'm glad to see that by the reviews that I got that you guys are okay with how I explain the whole Serenity thing. Now, I hope you enjoy this chapter and as for the disclaimer, I don't own digimon.

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_Never raise your hand to your children; it leaves your midsection unprotected  
Robert Orben_

Chapter 2:  
Daughter

"Do you mind telling us why you and your goons came barging in and pointing your weapons at us?" questioned Ken as he was the first to recover from the shock from their surprise visitors.

"It's quite simple really." answered Rowan as she stood behind her guys as a precaution. "We're just here to get what belongs to us. Now hand over the scrolls that you're friend Daisuke took from us."

"Well, let me think about it, uh… no." For his remark one of the men slammed the blunt end of his rifle against Ken's face. "Maybe I should have rephrased my answer."

"I believe it would be wise if you do as we ask." informed Rowan in a calm voice that didn't show any sign of animosity behind it.

Spitting out the blood from his mouth, Ken looked at them with a definite stare. "In my opinion I think you should kiss my ass." Once again Ken's retort resulted in him getting a beating as this time he had the wind knocked out of him with a punch to the stomach.

"It would be wise that you stop with snide remarks before you regret it." Giving a quick signal a few of the men pressed their rifles to the heads of the girls. "Give us what we want or one by one your friends will get a few additional holes in their heads."

Seeing that he was in no position to argue, Ken reluctantly went to the desk and opened one of the draws pulled out the scrolls. "Here's what you came for. Take them and get the hell out."

When it seemed as though one of the armed men was going to retrieve the scrolls Rowan told him that she would get them herself. Cautiously she went over and when she got close enough she got involved in a stare down with Ken. Neither one said a word as they were seeing who would back down first. That person would be Rowan as she turned her gaze to the side which fell upon the computer screen that still had the information about Serenity on it.

"I see that ancient scrolls weren't the only things that you've been researching. It's quite impressive that you were able to hack into our computer system." Despite that something like this would anger someone; Rowan didn't seem all that offended by it in the lease.

"What can I say? My friends and I are full of surprises." A moment of silence pass before continued. "You created her didn't you?" The unforeseen question had Hikari, Miyako and Mimi confused as they didn't know what their friend was getting at. "You're the one who was in charge of creating Serenity."

"Yes, I was the one who was in charge of the project of bringing Serenity into the living. Also, I was the one who was responsible for her training that she has undergone in preparation for today's activity."

"Does she even know about the connection that she shares with Daisuke?" asked Hikari, not caring about the rifle that was still pointed at her head.

"Not completely. She has some knowledge about how she came to be but nothing proof positive. As for whatever connection she has with your vampire friend, she doesn't. In her mind he's nothing more than a enemy and not as what you may refer to as her father. Even if she does know more than she let's on it doesn't seem to lessen her determination to fight him."

Before the conversation could go any further Rowan's cell phone went off. Putting it out she turned it on to answer. "Hello?" There was silence as she listened to whoever was on the other end of the line. "All right, I understand." Having apparently finishing the conversation Rowan ended the call. "Okay, we got what we came for so let's get going."

Following their orders all of the men began to leave the building to the point where Rowan was the last one to left. "Well, it has been a pleasure to meet you all but I must leave." She turned around and was about to leave until Miyako as last spoke up.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" That question made Rowan stop her departure. "Obtaining Daisuke's blood to create that girl, Serenity so she could deal with her father and give you the chance to get the scrolls and if possible take out Daisuke out. You must be so proud of yourself."

"On the contrary Inoue, I'm not. In fact, I feel the opposite." Having said all that she wanted to say, Rowan left leaving Ken and the others behind in confusion.

It would be Mimi who would get everyone back on track. "What do we do now guys?"

Apparently taking on the leadership role, Ken went into the weapons' cabinet. "We quickly arm ourselves and hurry over to where Daisuke is fighting where we stop him from killing his very own daughter." As he was completing with his weapon gathering he was joined by Hikari, then Miyako and Mimi.

Getting what they needed to get they headed off to the area where their friend was suppose to be at. "Do you think we'll get there in time?" asked Hikari to Ken.

"To be honest, I don't know. I truly don't know."

-/-/-/-/-

"What's the info that we've got about our girl?" Soon after leaving Daisuke's place, Rowan hurried into one of the troop's jeeps.

"Ma'am, we haven't been able to get a very good detailed report but from what we could gather she is still fighting against her target. It's unknown on the condition on either one of them. However, it appears as though it they continue their fight it may result in the building coming down on them. How should we proceed with this ma'am?"

The officer looked over to Rowan and saw that she was rubbing the bridge of her nose as if trying to relieve some sort of tension. "I hope I'm not over stepping my boundaries when I say this ma'am but perhaps you're becoming a bit too personal in this operation. After all, you've treated the girl as if she was your very own. Maybe you should-"

"I appreciate your crictisim but I prefer that you keep it to yourself." Rowan quickly responded, not really in the mood for one of her subordinates talking about business that he was in no position to talk about. "Let's get out of here and go get her." Following the order that was given to him the man drove the jeep off to pick up their partner in the overall mission. _"Please be okay Serenity until we get there. I couldn't bare it if we get there too late."_

-/-/-/-/-

"Are you about ready to give up?" For the last hour both Daisuke and Serenity had gone tooth and nail at one another. The result was them being all bruised and battered with blood seeping from various wounds that they received.

Wiping the blood from his mouth, Daisuke simply smiled in response. "I'm not even close of quickly. So let's just skip the rest of the formalities and continue where we left off."

Agreeing to the request Serenity went after went after him again and despite the obvious exhaustion that the two were experiencing they continued to go at one another with all they could muster. At one point, Serenity grabbed Daisuke by the collar and flung him into a support beam with such force that it caused him to crash through it. "Why do you insist on fighting me?" asked Daisuke in between coughing up blood. "I know that you were ordered to come after me but I got this nagging feeling that there's another reason why you're so dead set on taking me out. Tell me if I'm off base with my suspicion."

Serenity looked at Daisuke with a venomous stare. "You're right. I have another reason why I'm so set on finishing you off. However, I choose to keep that information to myself. Now, if you don't mind, I do believe that it's time for me to put an end to this affair."

Even with him hardly being able to get to his feet, Daisuke readied himself. "I'll like to see you try. But don't expect me on jus trolling over and playing dead. Well, no more dead than usual." Charging at one another they went at each other with all they had remaining within them.

When it seemed as though the fight was going to come to a close one of the walls blew up, causing the two fighters to be thrown on opposite sides of the room. Nothing could be seen as a cloud of smoke came over the entire area. Soon the smoke began to clear and from the now destroyed wall a figure could be seen walking inside. "Serenity, come along now. It's time for us to leave." From the sound of the voice it was clear that it belonged to a female.

"But Rowan, I still could win this fight." By how Serenity sounded it was obvious that she wasn't too keen on the idea of leaving. "Allow me to finish what I have started."

"Your request can't be granted. Besides, we got what we came for and you'll have another opportunity to finish this but we must leave now." Reluctantly Serenity agreed and followed Rowan to the demolished wall. Unfortunately as they were trying to leave, one of the support beams for the rafters came hurling down towards them.

It seemed as though they were going to meet their maker until they were suddenly pushed out of harm's way. Seeing what had saved them, they saw that it was Daisuke but it didn't come without a price. By getting them out of the way the beam had fallen on top of his legs, trapping underneath it.

Taken by completely surprise at what the person that she was supposed to take out did, Serenity looked at Daisuke in shock. Swallowing the pain that was going through his legs, Daisuke stared straight into Serenity's eyes. "Well, here's your chance. You wanted to take me out and here's your chance. Now you have the perfect opportunity to do it." There was no doubt that it was the perfect chance for Serenity to finish all this but it seemed as though she was somewhat hesitating to deliver the finishing blow.

"Serenity come on, we've got to get going." hollered Rowan from one of the jeeps. Taking one last look at her fallen adversary she joined her comrade where they drove off, leaving Daisuke on the verge of death. "Uh, if this is how I'm going to meet my end it would surely suck." That was the last thing he said before the feeling of unconsciousness over took him.

-/-/-/-/-

For who knows how long, Daisuke finally opened his eyes and was greeted by the sight of his friends. "Ah, you're finally awake. That must mean that you'll be up and about in no time." Ken exclaimed as he was cleaning up the medical equipment that he used to help bandage his battered friend.

Lifting himself to a sitting position Daisuke could see that despite having his legs and ribs heavily wrapped he was in good condition. "How long have I been out?"

"About a day and a half." answered Hikari as she handed him a cup of blood. "We found you alone and unconscious so we brought you back here to get you fixed up. Luckily there hasn't been any trouble since we've brought you back. I guess after they got the scrolls they decided to not even bother to come back."

"What are you talking about? Someone took the scrolls?"

"It was one of the Takenaka Corporation's retrieval teams." Miyako answered as she took over the explaining. "We were doing the research that you asked us to do and when we came across some important we were going to meet up with you until they came charging in, heavily armed and were prepared to do whatever it took to get what they wanted. When Ken gave them the scrolls they simply turned around and left." As Miyako was saying what had transpired Daisuke sat in his bed in silence.

"Don't blame Ken, Daisuke." spoke Mimi in her friend's defense. "When they threatened to kill us he believed that there was no other choice but to give them the scrolls."

"Oh, I'm not made at him. If I were in his shoes I most likely have done the same thing. It just sucks that we couldn't get the full translation before they were taken.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." smirk Ken. To help answer the question that was going through his friends' heads he went to the desk and opened a drawer and pulled out a stack of computer paper. "Shortly after you left and unbeknownst the others, the computer program that I used to translate what was left of the scrolls finished the translating and make a copy of it. Apparently we got the one up on the Takenaka Corporation."

"Yeah, if you don't count the fact that they have a highly skilled fighter who's almost on par with me on their side." retorted Daisuke. He attempted to get to his feet but the injuries that he suffered earlier came to affect as he stumbled and would've fallen if Mimi didn't keep him up and helped him back into bed.

"Despite that she's a terrific fighter, I know nothing about her. Except that when she started to bleed I could smell her blood and I don't know how but I believe that she has some kind of connection with me. I just don't know what the connection could be."

All four friends looked at one another cautiously, wondering if they should tell Daisuke what they knew. It would be Hikari who would decide what to do. "Perhaps you should stay seated Daisuke. There's something that we need to tell you."

-/-/-/-/-

"How are you feeling? Suffered any serious injuries?"

"I'm fine Rowan, so please stop smoothing me." After the tussle with Daisuke, the Takenaka Corporation retrieval team returned to headquarters where Rowan took the battered Serenity to the medical room for observation.

"For someone who just took part in their first actual fight you came out of it pretty well." What she said was true as that the only serious injuries that Serenity had were a dislocated right shoulder and severely sprained left knee.

As the examination went on a monitor that was built into the wall turned on and revealed the three higher ups that were still concealing their identities behind shadows. "How is our young warrior doing?"

Answering on Serenity's behalf, Rowan spoke up. "She's doing quite sirs. She'll have to be out of action for a couple of weeks but beyond that there's nothing else to report."

"Very well then, for the time being she'll just be recovering in case her services are needed again." informed one of the male higher ups. "Now that we've got the scrolls in our possession it'll be only a matter of time until we have the text translated. So until then you better rest up. It's unknown when you'll be needed again." With that the monitor turned off.

"You heard the boss. Get some rest because you'll need the energy to recuperate." Allowing Serenity to lean against her, Rowan helped her to her living quarters. After placing her in bed Rowan headed off, leaving Serenity alone with her thoughts. Being on her own, Serenity prepared to sleep but she couldn't help but think back to when Daisuke pushed her out of harm's way and being unable to take him out when she had the chance.

-/-/-/-/-

"Are you doing all right?" Shortly after being told about the truth of Serenity's origin, Daisuke went to the back of his place to have some alone time with his thoughts. That time would be broken by Hikari's appearance. Apparently she was the only one who was willing to confront him.

"I'm okay, all things considering." An uneasy silence went across them before continuing. "A daughter. Even saying it doesn't help to get over the shock. I mean, I always dreamed to have a kid of my own but after being turned that dream went away. To imagine that those bastards at the Takenaka Corporation used by blood along with someone that I cared for to create a living person to deal with me. Obviously there's no low that they won't sink to get what they want." His anger couldn't be held any longer as he punched the wall which he would regret as the punch aggravated his injuries further. Being somewhat cautious Hikari put a hand on his shoulder.

"I know that it must be tough for you but maybe it's not as bad as you think." Getting any type of retaliation she continued. "After all, she didn't kill you when she had the perfect opportunity to do so. Perhaps she has more good in Serenity than even she knows."

"You actually believe that?"

"If she's anything like her father then I have no doubt about it."

Their conversation would be cut short by Ken calling them back inside. Going in they saw that their friend was walking around in a happy manner. "I've figured it out. I finally figured out the translation to the scrolls." That comment caught the immediate interest of everyone.

"Well, what did the scrolls say or do we have to play twenty-one questions to find out?" asked a not so patient Daisuke.

Coming back to his senses Ken readied himself to explain his excited attitude. "The translation of the scrolls is completed and the part that I'm about to mention will definitely gain your interest." Placing the copied of the scrolls on the table Ken was preparing to tell everyone what he had discovered.

"_When the thorns of the world are defended by the Angel, the Spike and their allies, a new vampire champion will come forth. He'll be the one to protect the world from the evil and all those who embrace it. Only when he has fulfilled his mission he shall be rewarded by living once more."_

No one said a word as they allowed what they just heard to sink in. "Are you telling me that there is something in the scrolls about me being human again?" By the way Daisuke spoke he could hardly believe what he just heard.

"Well, I'm not certain on the how's that suppose to happen but if what this part of the translation is true then it is a possibility."

"But what did it mean by the thorns of the world being defeated by the Angel and the Spike?" questioned Mimi.

"It must be talking about the Circle of the Black Thorn." Daisuke answered her question. By the expression on his friends' faces it was obvious that they didn't understand what he was talking about. "It was a secret society that was hardly known about by anyone that was outside of their group. Everyone that was a member was the worst of the worst from both human and demon world. They were basically the ones who help put into motion the majority of the major evil events that have occurred throughout the world. The last I heard was that every member was killed in Los Angeles a few years back by the first two vampires with souls, who went under the names of Angel and Spike." Daisuke stopped his explanation as he allowed what he just said to get through.

"Unfortunately their victory didn't come without a price. Some of their allies were taken out and those who survived had to fight an army of demons. To this day it's still unknown if any of them are dead or alive but that isn't the point. It's that there's a chance of me being an actual flesh and blood yuman being again. I'll be honest in saying that doesn't sound so bad."

"That's of course is when or if you'll be able to save the world from the evil that surrounds it." spoke Hikar, who was being blatantly honest. "And something tells me that includes more than just the Takenaka Corporation."

That remark mellowed the feel of the room as it reminded them of what's to come for them. It would be Daisuke who would change it. "Well, all I have to say about it is this: bring them on."

* * *

Hopefully you readers enjoyed this chapter and how I did the whole Daisuke/Serenity battle situation. I originally wanted to do a more impactful thing with it but was unable to do so. Also, don't think that you've seen the last of the Serenity character. She'll be appearing again as the story progresses. 


	3. Girls' Night Out

Here you go people. My birthday was yesterday and I felt that I should update this story. A somewhat unusual reason but whatever.

This is the third chapter to this current story of my series. Mostly this chapter is going to happen shortly after the previous one. Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter and as for the disclaimer, I don't own digimon.

_--------------------------------------------------_

_Be alert to give service. What counts a great deal in life is what we do for others.  
__Anonymous_

Chapter 3:  
Girls' Night Out

"Thank you and have a nice night." Nodding back, the man grabbed his bag and exited the store.

"Was that the last one honey?" a female asked from the back.

"Yes it was dear." Coming from the back of the store was an elderly woman in her sixties who walked over to the only other person in the place, who apparently was her husband.

"That's good to hear since it's time to close shop." Agreeing with his wife's statement the elderly husband went to the front entrance and locked it. "Let's head upstairs and get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a busy day."

Turning the sign from 'open' to 'close' the husband headed to join his wife to their upstairs apartment. Two minutes later, the entire building exploded, consuming it entirely in flames. Just down the street an unidentified man in the backseat of a car was putting away some type of device away. "That takes care of that nuisance. Now let's get out of here." Giving the signal to the driver the car drove off, leaving the store to burn to the ground.

-/-/-/-/-

"Are you sure that you should be doing this?"

"Yes, I'm sure. After all, I would have to do this sooner or later, might as well start now." Assuming a fighting stance, Daisuke went on the attack against his opponent. The two traded blows back and forth until his opponent was able to get a shot at his ribs. The reaction was almost instant as he fell to his knees in Pain.

"Daisuke, are you all right?" asked a third person. On closer examination it could be seen that they were in the basement of Daisuke's home and the person that he was going against was none other than Hikari.

"I'm okay Mimi." informed the other person that was in the basement with them. "Apparently I've trained Hikari better than I thought."

"Or perhaps it's because you're still suffering from the injuries that you received from Serenity." With the assistance of Mimi the two helped Daisuke into a chair. "I know that it's been a week but you still need to take it easy until you fully recovered."

"Not going to happen." retorted Daisuke who apparently was getting over the sudden pain that he had experience. "I'm not one of those people who can just sit back and do nothing. Besides, there's no need to speed up my recovery since there hasn't been as much as a peep of evil occurring."

Seeing this was going nowhere, Hikari decided to change the subject. "Well then, with us having this unexpected vacation I have a good idea on how to spend some of it."

-/-/-/-/-

While those three were doing their thing, Ken was doing research on the copy that was made of the scrolls that were stolen. "Let's see, that matches, so does this and this section as well."

"I don't see why you're still looking through that." remarked Miyako. "We already discovered about Daisuke's role in the future so why even bother with it?"

"Maybe because there could be some clue of what may happen or even something about what's to become of us in the long run." muttered Ken without taking his eyes off his work.

"And what could that be? Dieing in a gruesome battle, being betrayed or possibly Mimi and I finding a way back to our home world? Stuff like that?" Whether she meant to or not when Miyako mentioned about her and her cousin going back to their home world, Patheran there was a trace of loathing to the idea. If Ken sensed it he didn't show it as he kept looking at his work.

"Perhaps those things could happen. But perhaps tell us if we'll ever meet that special…someone." Ken was somewhat embarrassed about what he said but tried to keep it in. "A silly idea isn't it?"

"I don't know. It doesn't sound all that silly to me." Looking at one another a strange vibe went across them. Neither one said a word as if they didn't want to take the chance of whatever was going on between them to be broken.

"I'm telling you, my answer is no." hollered Daisuke as he and the girls coming from the basement. Their sudden appearance broke whatever moment that Ken and Miyako had as they turned away from each other before anyone notice.

"I still don't see why you don't want to go ahead with my suggestion."

"I've told you already Hikari, I'm not going to go and that's final."

Not liking to be out of the lope, Miyako spoke up for her and Ken. "Mind telling us what this is all about for those who don't know what's going on?"

"Hikari got tickets to an opening for a new club that's happening later tonight. She's trying to convince me on going with her and if you haven't realized it yet, I declined the offer."

"That's what I don't understand." butted in Hikari. "Don't you feel that you deserve some fun?"

"Maybe I do. But my recent track record at social gatherings isn't that good. The last one ended with me being practically brainwashed by a crazed girl who wanted me to kill her ex-boyfriend. Wouldn't want something like that happening again, would we?"

"All right, I get it." admitted Hikari in defeat. "You don't want to go and I can't make you. But I got two extra tickets and I don't feel like going alone. Mind telling me how I'm suppose to fix that problem?"

Looking around, Daisuke smiled as if he came up with an answer. "Oh, I think I know the perfect solution to your problem."

-/-/-/-/-

"I don't know how you were able to talk me into doing this." muttered Miyako.

"Because unlike Daisuke you haven't built a tolerance to my constant persuading." answered Hikari. The both of them, alone with Mimi, were driving to the club opening.

"Or maybe I couldn't stand another moment of you saying 'Come on, it'll be fun. You know you want to go.'" Miyako answered in a voice that was trying to imitate Hikari's. "If you weren't a friend I would've beaten you down."

"Oh, come on, I didn't complain that much." When she get an accusing stare from her friend, Hikari tried to get some support. "What do you say Mimi?" she asked her friend who was in the backseat.

"Now I wouldn't go as far as Miyako but I wouldn't say that she's completely wrong."

"Well, if that's how you feel then I should just turn this car around and head back." pouted Hikari in a mocking tone.

"All right, we get it Hikari. I think I speak for both Miyako and I when I say that we didn't mean anything by our comments. It's just that we didn't expect you to invite us to go with you."

"Okay, I'll admit that Daisuke was my first choice but with him repeatedly saying no I thought we could use this opportunity as a way to get to know one another better." Finally the three women arrived at the club and after parking the car they went inside to a two story building with loud music blasting loudly, and multicolored lights swirling around, with numerous people dancing to the music that was playing. "Well, let's go ahead and have some fun."

Allowing themselves to have fun they chatted with people and danced a couple of songs. At the moment they were sitting at a table, drinking and chatting. "Man, Hikari I must admit that this was a good idea you had." exclaimed Miyako as she was on her third drink.

"I told you that it would be fun. This is giving us a chance to relax from everything that we've gone through these recent months. Wouldn't you agree Mimi?" Not getting a response, Hikari looked over to her friend to see that she was looking over to some good looking man. "Do you see something that you like?"

That remark snapped Mimi out of whatever trance that she was in as she turned back to her companions. "Huh? Did you say something?"

"All that I said was that it's been just hanging together but it seems as though you're interested in hanging out with someone besides us."

When that was said Mimi immediately tried to deny it. "I don't know what you mean." She was lying and her friends could tell.

"Don't try to hide it. It's obvious that you're interested in that guy so why not just go over there and talk to him?" said Hikari as if it was the easiest thing to understand. "I mean, if you like somebody you should go ahead and talk to them."

"If that's the case then what's your excuse with Daisuke?" Mimi responded back in hopes that it would get Hikari off from talking about her business.

This time it was Hikari's turn to become uncomfortable as she nearly choked on her drink. "What in the world are you talking about?" Before Mimi had the chance to reply, Miyako added in her two cents.

"Please Hikari, like it was hard to figure out that you have a strong affection for Daisuke and yet you don't do anything to fulfill those feelings."

"First off, whatever is going on between Daisuke and me is none of your concern. Second, you telling someone to express their feelings to "answer are like the pot calling the kettle black. I can't count how many moments that you and Ken have had." That thankfully stopped Miyako from coming back with any type of remark. "Wouldn't you agree with me Mimi?"

Getting no response the two of them looked around to see that Mimi was chatting with the man that she was eyeing earlier. "Apparently our friend has set her interest on something than our little argument. Wouldn't you say so Hikari?"

"You're right about that Hikari. Now all we need to do is to find something to past the time."

-/-/-/-/-

"Did you really have to do that?" asked Hikari as she was driving.

"Oh come on, that guy got what was coming to him." Miyako quickly answered back with a bit of annoyance in her voice. "How dare he insinuate that I was some street walker and try to force himself on me. Besides, I think I handle it quite well."

"You tossed the guy across two tables and nearly broke both of his arms. Fortunately getting a beat down from a girl stopped him from pressing any charges but we had to remove by the club owner and the security." Hikari was clearly embarrassed by what happened. "I swear that was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life."

"I actually had a good time." stated Mimi, adding her two cents in.

"Obviously you did. You and that guy that you were talking with were awfully chumming before we had to leave. I believe he's name was James and if I'm not mistaken he gave you his phone number." The only answer that Mimi gave them was her looking away but wasn't able to hide the blush that was covering her face. Not wanting to embarrass her friend anymore, Hikari decided to change the subject. "I just remembered that I need to get some groceries before headed home." Turning the car to a new street they arrived at a small convenience store.

Parking near by they went inside and saw a dirty blonde woman that was perhaps in her mid thirties working at the front counter. "Welcome, how may I help you?"

"We're just here to get some groceries and that's all. But thanks for asking." Hikari quickly answered. Going through the aisles the girls picked up what they wanted and put them in their carts.

"Hey Aunt Helen, I'm back." spoke a male voice that was coming in from the back of the store. "Nothing serious happen while I was gone was there?" When the man came to the store front the three girls saw that he was around their age. He had short brown hair and blue eyes. There was nothing special about what he was wearing as it was simply casual clothes along with a store apron that he had apparently tied around his waist after coming in.

Peeking out from the shelves both Hikari and Miyako recognized him as the man that Mimi was talking with earlier that night. Feeling that he was being watched the man, known as James turned his head and saw the two. "Oh, hello there, haven't we met somewhere before?"

"We have. Actually, you met a friend of ours." answered Miyako. "She had long brown hair, maroon colored eyes and a cute face. Does it ring a bell?"

"It does actually. She wouldn't happen to be here with you is she?" When James was asking this he was looking around in the hopes of spotting the girl in question.

"As a matter of fact, she is." Seeing that the woman that they were talking about was hiding Miyako pulled her out into the open.

"Well, I was hoping to see you again but not this soon. Not that I'm complaining." Mimi simply lowered her head in an attempt to conceal the blush that was coming over her face and saying a small response in return.

Before anything else could happen, someone in a gray suit entered the store. However, what caught everyone's immediate attention was instead of the person that was wearing the suit was an actual human it was a grayish green skin creature. He had a bulky frame that couldn't be hidden even by the suit and four small horns going that were on top of his head that went from the front to the back as well as three additional horns that went along either side of the creature's jaw line.

"Good evening Miss Aida. I do believe that we have some business to attend to." By the expression on the woman's face whatever type of business that the man was referring to it wasn't anything good.

"I don't know what you mean. We've already settled whatever business we had last week."

"But there lies the problem. The donation that we received from you came out a little short."

"What do you mean short!" shouted James in anger. "We gave you the same amount as always."

"Ah, that would be the case if we had been going by last month's set quota." Casually the creature walked over to the near by shelves. "This problem can be solved quite simple. Just pay the amount that you still owe or there may be some accidents." Reaching over he pushed the items from one of the shelves to the floor.

Coming to understand what was going on, the girls wanted to step in and when it seemed as though Miyako was going to get involved until Hikari stopped her by holding onto her shoulder.

"You have until tomorrow night to pay the remaining amount of protection money or this little store or even yourselves might have itself an accident." Turning around the demon was prepared to leave but someone wanted to give him a going away present. Reaching over for a near by broomstick, James ran at the demon and smashed the broomstick over his back that it actually broke. Despite the force of the blow, the demon didn't seem the least bit hurt from it as he grabbed James by his shirt and threw him across the floor where he bounced off of the counter before crashing to the ground.

"James!" Rushing quickly over to her nephew, Helen Aida knelt down to see if he was okay. Not that behind her was Mimi.

"Consider this as a warning. Don't pay up and you'll have to deal with the consequences." Once that was said the demon left the store leaving all those inside to think about what just took place.

"Are you okay James?" asked his worried aunt. "Say Something."

Hearing his aunt's words, James tried to regain his breath before he spoke. "I'm fine Helen. Just a little bruised up that's all." Struggling slightly he got back to his feet and was about to fall back down until he was caught by Mimi. "Thank you. I appreciate it." When she realized how close that she was to him, Mimi quickly backed away. Making there presence finally felt both Hikari and Miyako came over to join the others.

"I hope we're not stepping any boundaries but do you mind explaining what that was all about?" wondered Miyako who couldn't keep her curiosity hidden anymore.

It seemed as though James was going to talk but was stopped by his aunt. "It's nothing that you need to concern yourself with. Just go ahead and get what you came for. Consider them on the house for what you had to witness tonight."

When it became clear that they weren't going to get any answers the girls got what they came for before getting back into the car and driving off. "Do you guys have any idea what that was all about?"

"The best that I can come up with Miyako is that it's some sort of extortion racket." By the looks of confusion on her friends' faces Hikari decided to elaborate further. "It's when a gang or something similar trying to get money from small businesses by offering 'protection'. However, all they're doing is threaten the business into paying them a sum of money or having something bad happening to them. Apparently we saw one of the minions to the person who's in charge of the whole thing."

"If that's the case then why did you hold me back when we could've fought them?"

"Because if we did we might've got James and his aunt hurt in the crossfire. I promise you we'll help them and stop whoever is behind the whole thing."

Nothing was said between the three of them for sometime until Mimi asked the question that was needed to be asked. "Then if we're going to get involved then shouldn't we bring Daisuke and Ken into this? If we're heading into a big battle we should go in with all that we have."

Quickly Hikari responded with an answer. "No we won't. This is something that we must do on our own." Once again her friends gave Hikari confused stares. "Daisuke is still hasn't fully recovered from his fight with Serenity and Ken needs to concentrate on translating on the scrolls before the Takenaka Corporation has a chance to. Until it appears absolutely necessary we'll keep them out of this. But for now we need to better understand of what's going on and I believe that Mimi can help us with that department."

Not bothering to answer the question that had to be going through her friends' minds Hikari just gave them a suspicious smile.

-/-/-/-/-

Next Day…

"It's good to see that you decided to show up." Sitting down James sat across of his company.

"Well, when I got the call I thought I was going for a date. But judging by seeing all three of your girls here, I figure that you want to talk about what happen last night." Already knowing what the reason what was to come, James got himself comfortable in his seat. "Go ahead, ask away."

Taking the surprising lead, Mimi started the interrogation. "We already got the idea that your family's store is being extorted of its money in exchange for self-proclaimed protection. Of course, we all know that isn't the case."

"Ah, so you got brains along with looks. I like that." That flirtatious comment resulted in Mimi to back up slightly in her chair and light blush went across her face.

Not wanting her friend to be repeatedly distracted by their new companion, Hikari took over where Mimi left off. "Could you please tell us the back story of what's going on?"

"It started about three months ago. Before then everything was going fine until that…demon you saw showed up. He did that whole pay up or else speech and we told him to piss off." That cause a small laugh to come from the three girls. "Turns out we weren't the only ones as everyone in our district said that the same thing happen to them. However, are way of thinking changed when a store that an elderly couple owned exploded in what was called an 'accidental fire' when it was actually an example for those who didn't pay for the 'protection'."

"So are you telling us that you just went along with the whole thing?" questioned Miyako.

"Of course I didn't I tried to rally the others to join together and fight back but they didn't want to risk losing everything and when my aunt begged for me to stop I did. Basically I choked down my self-respect and went along with it." As he spoke the girls could see that James was clenching and unclenching his fists to hold in his anger. "But be damn sure it ate at me up inside every time I had to hand the money over to that son of a bitch demon. If only there was a way to put a stop to them."

"Maybe we can help you in that department." informed Hikari. "After all, we have some experience in that area."

"Do you mean you guys are some type of demon exterminators?"

"You could say that. Now, if you really want to put an end to this you perhaps should hear our plan."

-/-/-/-/-

"Okay, are you ready to begin?" Nodding her head the woman readied herself for what she was going to do. Soon, a buzzer went off, signaling for the woman to begin. Sprinting off, the woman maneuvered around the obstacles and she seemed to be doing quite well.

Things went on like that until the woman had to avoid a sudden obstacle that appeared. Moving out of the way quickly she landed hard on her left leg. When that happened it resulted in her collapsing to the ground in pain.

"Serenity, are you all right?" asked Rowan from the control center. Turning off the training simulation she hurried over to Serenity to see what the damage was.

"I'm okay Rowan. Apparently I put too much strain on my knee." As Serenity was getting back to her feet she was straining as the pain that was going through her sore leg. "At least it held out longer than before."

"That only means that you're healing quickly. It's just a matter of time until you've fully recovered from your injuries." Allowing Serenity to lean against her, Rowan lead her over to a near by bench. "Do you think that you should be pushing yourself like this? Maybe you should consider slowing down on these recovery sessions until you're a bit stronger."

"That's not really an option." Serenity replied as she lifted her left pant leg to examine her still tender knee. When she got it all the way up she saw that with the exception of some slight swelling it seemed all right. "I've got to continue these sessions if I want to be prepared to go up against Daisuke again."

"You're actually going to go after him so soon after recovering?" Not really noticed by Serenity but Rowan was somewhat worried about her charge. "Why would you do such a thing?"

Trying her luck, Serenity attempted to stand and after much strain and few failed attempts was at last able to stand up but on closer examination it could be seen that she was slightly putting more of her body weight on her healthier leg. "That's my mission isn't it? Go after Daisuke bring him here so you can do whatever you plan on doing. What is your plan for him anyways?"

"That's classified and it's really nothing that you have to concern yourself over." Rowan quickly answered. If Serenity had listened more closely she may have notice that she was keeping something from her and perhaps even be aware that Rowan was somewhat regretting what she was hiding. "Just know that what you're doing is right and I'll be behind you to the end."

Glancing over to her friend and assigned friend, Serenity showed her gratitude with a thankful smile. "Thank you Rowan. I really do appreciate it. Now, why don't we continue with my training?"

With a nod of the head Rowan went back to the control panel. _"It pains me to deceive her like this. What they have control plan for her isn't right. Unfortunately I'm not in any position to do anything to stop it. Hopefully when the day comes she'll be able to forgive me."_

-/-/-/-/-

"Are you sure that this plan of yours will work?"

"I'm sure of it Mimi." answered Hikari. Currently she and Mimi were hiding behind some shelves in the closed Aida Store waiting for that demon collector to arrive. "We wait back here until the time is right." Just two minutes later a car parked itself in front of the store. Stepping out was the same demon that they encountered the previous day."

Not believing that there was no possible danger, the demon entered the store and walked over to Helen and James. "Well, the deadline is up. Now if you be so kind as to hand over the monthly protection money then there'll be no need for any trouble." Seeing their chance, the girls came out from their hiding spot and crept up behind the demon.

He didn't know that they were there until Mimi pressed the tip of her sword into his back. "It'd be a wise move if you don't try anything foolish." informed Hikari. To help him better understand her friend's advice, Miiyako placed a bit more pressure on his back with her sword.

"Now we're going to be asking you a few questions. After that and depending on if you play along we may let you go. Do we have an understanding?"

The response that they got wasn't what they were expecting as the demon merely laughed. "Man, I must be getting careless. That's got to be the reason on how you snuck up on me."

"Then perhaps you should've had a back up plan for something like this." Mimi mocked as she was allowing herself to become over confident.

"As a matter of fact, I did." With a simple snap of his fingers four more demons, similar to him came barreling in and surrounded everyone. "So what do you plan on doing now?" asked the somewhat captive demon. "Still willing to deal with me and my associates?"

"If I'm going out I'll be taking you with me." retorted Mimi, who despite being out numbered was not going to back down anytime soon.

"My men being killed would surely be a lost. But I'm willing to deal with it. Can you say the same for your group?" Taking the hint, two of the demon goons pointed their weapons at James and Helen. "What's it going to be? Kill me and most likely die or let me do what I came to do and possibly leave with nothing permanent happening." There was no doubt that the demon was enjoying the fact that the tide of the situation was on his side. "The choice is up to you."

Mimi stood her ground but was slowly starting to wonder what they should do now. The answer wouldn't come until Hikari spoke up. "You want an answer? You'll get one." Grabbing the cusp of her shirt she spoke into it. "Do it now."

The demons didn't have a clue what that meant but would soon as a mailbox came flying through the store front window. Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, Hikari and Mimi immediately took down two of the demon goons. Following their lead, James pushed his aunt out of harm's way before dealing with the two remaining demons with the assistance of the two girls. Now the only opposition that remained was the leader of the whole thing.

"Ha, ha, maybe I spoke a bit too soon there." voiced the mow concerned demon as it was he who was now on the bad side of the situation. "Perhaps we should do that talking thing that you suggested earlier."

"Yeah, that's a good idea." commented James who wished to be a part of what was going on. When he heard that the demon believed that he was in the clear until James spoke up again. "But before that happens there is still the matter of you continuously threatened me and my aunt. For that you should be punished."

Before James had the chance to do anything, his Aunt Helen stepped up and clocked the demon in the jaw that actually knocked him out. She was going to continue her attack but was held back by nephew. "Whoa, calm down Helen. There's no need to go all postal on him for the moment."

"Let me go James. That son of a bitch deserves to pay for what he's done. Don't you remember what he did to that elderly couple?" With the mentioning of those people James grip loosen slightly but quickly regained it before his aunt could get away. "They were friends of ours who didn't deserve what they got. He probably doesn't even regret doing what he did."

"Of course I remember what he's done." The mere mentioning of that unfortunate incident caused the anger that James was already feeling to intensify even further. "Trust me; he'll get what's coming to him. But first, let our friends do what they need to do so they can get what they're looking for." Thankfully that seemed to calm his Aunt Helen down.

"All right, since he's been knocked out we'll have to go with the basics. Mimi, if you would do the honors." Understanding what her friend was talking about Mimi started to search the unconscious demon to see if he had anything useful in his possession.

As that was going on Hikari went over to the broken window front. "That was some good work on your part." Walking over the broken glass was none other than Miyako.

"It was no problem. After all, if you're stronger than your average human throwing a mailbox through a window isn't that hard to do." Unable to hide her amusement, Miyako let a small smile to come across her face. "Hopefully they won't be too upset about the broken window."

"I wouldn't worry about it. Under the circumstances they should be okay with what you had to do. But I think to be on the safe side we should pay for a replacement window." The two shared a quick laugh before Mimi spoke up. "Hey guys, I think I found something."

Walking over they saw that she had something in her hand. Handing the item over to Hikari it was revealed to be some type of business card. There wasn't much to the card except that there was a name in black bold letters written across it. "Xanatos? Who's that?" Getting only confused stares it was clear that everyone else didn't know who the person was either. Knowing that she wouldn't find the answer at the moment Hikari shoved the card into her pocket hoping to find the answer at a later time.

Unbeknownst to any of them was that about a block away, a car sped off with the driver, who couldn't be identified do to him being covered in shadows, had seen all that he wanted to see.

-/-/-/-/-

Hours Later…

"Man, this was some night." exclaimed Hikari. "Wouldn't you girls agree?" The three of them had just recently left the Aida store after dealing with the demon collectors by sneaking them onboard a cargo ship that was heading off to a far away place.

"I've had better." Miyako remarked from the passenger seat. "I had some incidents back in Panthran so don't ask." She quickly added when she saw the confused look on Hikari's face.

"So do we tell Daisuke and Ken about our little adventure from the past few days?" asked Mimi from the backseat.

"We don't have to. After all, we've solved the problem so I don't see the reason why they need to know what we did." Parking the car the girls walked to the house. Opening the door they stepped in to see both Daisuke and Ken just lounging about.

"Hey girls, it's been a while since we've seen you." remarked Daisuke. "What have you guys been doing for the past few days?"

The three girls gave each over knowing smiles and Hikari would give a simple answer. "Nothing much, just doing girl stuff."

-/-/-/-/-

In a undisclosed location, the car that saw what happen at the store showed up and the person quickly entered to meet a shadowy figure. "Sir, I'm afraid to inform you that your collectors have been taken out by some unknown people."

Despite the bad news, the man didn't seem bothered by it. "You don't say? I guess we'll have to have a meeting with them in the very near future. Which no doubt should prove to be very interesting."

_--------------------------------------------------_

Hopefully you guys like this chapter. The reason why I really didn't have Daisuke, Ken and Serenity really involved in this chapter is because I wanted to focus on the three women of the group and as for the James character, he was originally suppose to be a one chapter character with the ocassional mentioning but I've decided to have him comeback later on in the series. I hope that you readers are okay with that idea.

Well, until I update again, which I don't know when that'll be since I'm going to be really busy with school and doing another story on the side. But I promise that I'll do my best. So, see ya until next time.


	4. Know Why You Fight

I know that it's been a while since I've updated this story and I'm sorry. Apparently my teachers decided to give me loads of school assignments all at once and regrettably I had to put them in front of this story. Hopefully this chapter will be considered as an apology for not updating sooner. Lastly, the disclaimer, I don't own Digimon.

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_It is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.  
Alfred Adler (1870 - 1937)_

Chapter 4:  
Know Why You Fight

"How are things progressing with the O'Brian project?"

"Things are going as schedule. He'll be receiving his requested item within the week. Of course, if he gets caught we'll make sure that he doesn't connect us with his plans what so ever." In an executive room, many of the important employees of the Takenaka Corporation were involved in a business meeting, discussing about certain objectives.

"That's good. Now how are things progressing with Daisuke Motomiya?"

"Everything is currently going well. He hasn't cause any problems for us since confronting Serenity and us taking the Mystic Scrolls." reported Rowan, who was among those who were at the meeting.

"Speaking of the scrolls how is the translation of the text going?"

"The translating is progressing nicely." some old English man in glasses answered. "My translation department has gotten far with the scrolls and should have them deciphered soon."

"That's good to know. Now, before this meeting is concluded there's still the matter of the Serenity project that needs to be discussed." That topic instantly caught Rowan's attention.

"What's there to discuss? Hasn't she proven herself four needs?"

"The Serenity project has shown that it is a strong weapon. However, there are some concerns involving it. The major one being that its main purpose was to go against Motomiya and incapacitate him long enough so we could get him in our possession. Unfortunately, it not only wasn't able to deal with Motomiya when it had the opportunity to do so but hesitated. Care to explain why that happened?"

Before she answered Rowan swallowed her anger from her bosses' remarks. "First of all, _she_ was able to give Motomiya just as much injuries as she received. Secondly, the reason why she didn't use the opening that she had to finish him is because he saved both Serenity and I from dieing, so she was merely returning the favor. Remember, she has he's blood going through her veins, which means that she's probably has he's sense of honor." Rowan couldn't help but to smile slightly from coming with some reasonable excuses.

"But there's nothing that can be done about how she does things since we really didn't make any boundaries while she was being made." she was glad to say that but she was thinking otherwise. _"It serves them right that Serenity is causing them trouble, seeing as how they only see her as a weapon."_

"On the subject of Serenity, where is the young fighter?"

"She just getting some what she considers excitement."

-/-/-/-/-

"Come on, there has to be something worth doing that can catch my interest." In what appeared to be a suburban neighborhood full of apartment complexes, Serenity was hopping from rooftop to rooftop looking for what she could consider excitement. She would soon find it as a scream cut through the silence. "Following the sound it soon led her to the entrance to an alley where a young adult woman was running from a group of things. "I guess I'll be having some fun before heading back after all."

Stepping back down to the ground she silently entered the alley to see that the woman was now backed up against the wall with the thugs slowly coming towards her. "Help me! Please, someone help me!" Not wanting her tries for help to alert someone one of the thugs grabbed her chin.

"Relax. There's no need to be screaming. We're just looking for some fun." Getting closer the thug was now face to face with the woman, he even went as far as sniff her. "Besides, I like it when my women lie still." Right before the woman's eyes, the man's face went vampire and he wasn't the only one as the rest of the thugs' faces changed as well.

The woman was about to scream out but was stopped when the man covered her mouth. "Relax; this'll only take a moment." Just when the vampire was about to sink his teeth into the woman's neck someone would intervene.

"Now I think that by screaming the girl is trying to tell you that she's not interested in whatever you have planned." Walking further into the alley, everyone saw Serenity coming towards them.

"Get out of here girlie before it's too late." warned one of the thug vampires as they turned their attention back to their captive.

"I'm afraid I can't do that." Serenity retorted with a simple remark.

Becoming fed up with the minor annoyance, one of the lesser vampire thugs approach Serenity. "Are you stupid or what lady? Do you want to die or what?"

Serenity just looked at the vamp with a blank look on her face. "I would be asking you the same thing. However…" Before continuing, a wooden stake popped out of her sleeve. Gripping it tightly she stabbed him in the heart, resulting in the vamp turning into dust. "…it's already been done."

Everything seemingly became a stand still as what just occurred took everyone by surprise. Wanting to avenge their fallen comrade, two more vamps went after Serenity. When it became clear that one stake would be enough another stake came out from her other sleeve. Avoiding the vamps attempted lunges towards her, Serenity firmly held both stakes as she thrust both arms back to plunge them into her enemies. Just like with what happen to their fallen comrade, they too became nothing more than dust piles.

It became to the remaining vampire thugs that they weren't dealing with an ordinary person, four out of the five vamps went at him at once. Despite being out numbered, Serenity was still managing to stay with them.

As that was going on the vampire leader returned his attention back towards the woman that they were originally after. "Now, where was I before I was so rudely interrupted?" He again tried to sink his teeth into the woman's neck but like lat time he became distracted only this time the distraction came when he heard the screams of his partners in crime.

Turning back around he was shocked to see that all four of his comrades bad been completely dusted in such a short amount of time. It was then that he realized that there was nothing standing between him and the unknown warrior that took out a group of vamps without that much effort. When she started to come towards him he quickly place the captive woman in front of him with his hand gripped tightly around her neck.

"Not another stop closer or I'll rip her throat out." Serenity hesitated for only a second before walking to them again.

"If you're going to kill then do it already." That was a shock to the opposition as it that was the last thing that he expected to hear. "Just know that when her soul leaves her body I'll remove you from the land of the living." It was now basically a stalemate as the two waited to see who would act first. Surprisingly it would be neither of them as the woman who was being held as a hostage took the offensive when she reached into her purse and pulled out what looked like pepper spray.

Aiming the spray at her captor she sprayed the liquid in his face. Though the liquid did was it was suppose to do by freeing the girl from her captor's grasp what was surprising was that it was actually burning the vampire's face. Consumed by pain as well as anger, he flung her to the ground. Reaching into his coat he pulled out a hand gun which he then pointed at the woman.

Without the least bit of remorse the wounded vampire pulled the rigger. Knowing that there was nothing she could do to stop what was to come; she closed her eyes and waited for the end. A gunshot went off but when nothing seemed to happen she opened her eyes to that the woman who was trying to help her had stepped in the way. That was a dumb thing you did there." spoke the attempted hero."

Shocked at what was going on the vampire leader began to back away. "W-What are you? There's no way you can be human."

"To be honest…" In almost a blink of an eye, Serenity threw one of her stakes at the gun carrying vampire. "I don't know what I am." The vamp could only let out an agonizing yell before becoming nothing more than a pile of dust.

Seeing that the threat was taken cared of, the woman, who had witness everything that had happen, went over to Serenity. "Oh, thank you so very much. I am deeply grateful for what you did for me. If there's anything I can do to repay you just ask."

"Don't worry about it. I was only doing what I felt was right." Suddenly, Serenity collapse face first to the ground and wasn't moving one bit. Rushing over the now freed woman went over to check on her.

"Hey are you okay? Come on, say something." Turning Serenity over she was shocked to see a puddle of blood and the source of it was from a gunshot wound to Serenity's gut.

-/-/-/-/-

"So, has things improved since last time?"

"They're doing fine. Actually, they're doing great. It seems as though my injuries have completely healed." Over at Daisuke place both Daisuke and Hikari were removing the vampire with a soul's bandages to see how he was recovering.

"Apparently you're back to your old self." remarked Hikari as she examined her friends previously injuries. "I guess we can thank the miracles of fast acting vampire healing for that."

"Well, being a vampire does have its advantages." muttered Daisuke as he was putting his shirt back on. "Unfortunately it has its disadvantages as well. Having the constant craving of the red liquid is one of them."

"Than I should consider myself lucky that I'm not your type." Hikari joked in good humor.

"Don't be ridiculous Hikari. You'd be the perfect type for anyone. A person would be a fool to not notice that." Whether he meant to or not, Daisuke had given Hikari a flattering comment. She stared at him in shock that he would say something like that from out of the blue. It wasn't until Daisuke turned his attention towards her did she snap out of whatever spaced out moment she was in. "Hey, are you okay? You seem a little out of it."

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I must've been out of it for a bit." she quickly answered in hopes that it was convincing enough and fortunately it look like it was. "So, now that you're back to your old self what do you want to do now?"

Slowly Daisuke pulled himself to his feet. After a few moments he managed to walk around but did so gingerly as to not cause another injury. "I'm not really sure. What's going on with the others?"

"Not much really. Ken's doing the final touches in translating the scrolls as well as doing some kind of project that he won't tell what it is. Mimi went to perfect her archery skills and even going on a date with that James guy. Miyako is out trying to improve his fighting ability in case we ever get anymore surprises like the Takenaka Corporation grunts or any…other intruders."

"Would one of those intruders that you're referring to wouldn't happen to be my daughter would it?" Daisuke asked as he knew what intruders that Hikari was referring to. When he only got silence that was allthat he needed for an answer. "I guess I was right."

"Don't get me wrong Daisuke." Hikari quickly said as to quickly repair any friction that came from her earlier remarks. "But the last time she paid you a visit she tried to kill you and she nearly succeeded."

"Do you think that I don't know that? To discover that the people who've been nothing more than a pain in the ass to me are basically using my own flesh and blood as a weapon against me. It sickens me that I was actually prepared to kill my daughter when we fought each other."

"But Daisuke, you had no idea that she was your daughter when you went against her."

"Whether I knew it or not doesn't matter. If given the opportunity I would've taken her out like every other person that I have gone up against." Walking over to the next room he stopped in front of his weapon arsenal. While looking at the variety of weapons a somewhat sad expression came across his face. "In reality am I becoming simply a killer?"

"No, you're not!" exclaimed Hikari with authority in her voice. Going over she stood slightly behind Daisuke. "There's no way that I can fully understand what you have to deal with. Even though I have fought beside you for the past year, you have done things that I wouldn't have been capable of doing." Hikari then place a tender hand on his shoulder. "And despite all the pain and suffering that you had to endure you still continued because it was the right thing to do."

"I'm thankful for your words Hikari, truly I am. But I seriously have some doubt. I can't help but take them only by face value."

When it became clear that words wouldn't really get through, Hikari decided to go a different direction. "Daisuke, do you have anything planned tomorrow?"

Taken off guard by his friend's sudden question Daisuke didn't know how to answer for a while. "Uh, no, why do you ask?"

Hikari gave Daisuke a secretive smile. "Don't worry, you'll find out."

-/-/-/-/-

"It looks as though you're finally regaining consciousness." muttered someone. Slowly Serenity opened her eyes and when she realized that she was in a unfamiliar room she immediately came out from whatever grogginess that she was experiencing.

"Where am I!" She attempted to get out of the bed that she was in but someone was keeping her from doing that.

"Take it easy now." the person said in a calm and gentle voice. "You're still recovering from your injury."

Not strong enough to fight the person off, Serenity settled back down on the bed. "Where am I? What am I doing here? Who the hell are you?"

The lady who had kept her from getting up simply looked at Serenity amused stare. "Boy, you sure are full of questions aren't you?" Seeing that Serenity wasn't amused by her bit of humor, the lady got serious. "You're in my room of my apartment. As to why, you were injured by the gunshot wound that you received from the vampire that you were saving me from." To prove her point, she motioned to the medical bandages that were wrapped securely around Serenity's torso. "Fortunately for you I have some experience in mending people." Turning back to her patient, the lady saw that she was on the receiving end of an intense glare.

"How did you know that those people were vampires?" Serenity asked without letting up on her glare.

"Let's just say that I've had some experience when it involves vampires. That's the reason why I carry this around." She lifted up her pepper spray container. "Holy water, it comes in very handy."

Gathering up the medical supplies, the lady got up. "Now, if you excuse me, there's some stuff that I need to do." The lady began to head for the bedroom door. "So just rest up and recoup from your wound."

She was about to leave when Serenity called out to her. "Please, wait. Could you at least tell me your name?"

Glancing over her shoulder the lady gave Serenity a tender smile. "The name's Jun, Jun Motomiya."

-/-/-/-/-

"What do you mean you can't find her!"

"I'm afraid that all that is known sirs." Once again the office room of the Takenaka Corporation was having a meeting but unlike the previous one, this meeting wasn't going as smoothly.

"It has been almost an entire day and there has been no sign of Serenity since her little adventure as you called it." recalled one of the higher ups as she and her two associates were in a conversation with the unofficial watcher of Serenity, Rowan Stevens.

"What you say is correct. Something must've happen to help seeing as how she was suppose to report back hours ago." replied Rowan, failing to hide the concern that she was feeling for the unknown situation of Serenity and it wasn't because if something happen to her, she would pay the consequences. "I promise you I'll do everything in my power to find Serenity and bring her back."

"You better hope that you do that. If not you might end up like Hitomi." No longer having anything to say to Rowan the connection with her was cut, leaving the higher ups to discuss their business in private. "It seems as though our project is becoming too much of an independent."

"That would seem to be the case. Should we send one of our special retrieval teams to bring it back or should we allow Ms. Stevens the chance to do so?"

"Ms. Stevens has shown signs of being too attach with her charge. It has clouded her judgment in making rational decisions." Not a word was said between the three for sometime until finally a decision was found. "Send out a retrieval team."

-/-/-/-/-

"_This is just my luck. Not only did I get myself hurt but I end up in the home of my enemy's family."_ Thankfully, that despite her worry Jun didn't seem to have any idea who Serenity was and the connection with Daisuke. Speaking of Daisuke, if he were to show up there's no doubt that encounter would result in disastrous circumstances. Placing her hand down on her stomach Serenity felt the wrapping that Jun used and she couldn't help but be a bit thoughtful.

"_For someone who's supposed to be related to the evil that I'm supposed to fight against she didn't seem all that bad."_ Putting that thought away she tried to get her mind on something else and it was then that she spotted something on the nightstand beside the bed. Reaching over she picked up the item to see that it was a simply photo in a frame.

The photo appeared to be an old one as it had Jun in it but she was a couple of years younger. She wasn't the only one in the photo as the other person was none other than Daisuke only he was younger than he was now. Judging by the sunlight that was in it the photo had to be taken while Daisuke was still human.

"Well, it seems as though you're feeling better." Surprised by the sudden voice Serenity accidentally dropped the picture frame to the floor. At the doorway was Jun grinning like a Cesar cat. "For someone whose able to take out eight vampires without much trouble you are easy to sneak up on." Walking over she picked up the photo that had been dropped. "I remember when this was taken. It was when my brother was leaving for the Kyoto Police Academy. Me and my parents were so proud of him when he joined and became an officer."

"He must've been quite a guy." said Serenity, doing her best to act as though she didn't know who they were talking about.

"He was. It's a shame how he lost his life while trying to protect his partner from a vampire. In the end he succeeded in saving him, only for him to pay the price for his bravery."

"_The Takenaka Corporation archives never mentioned that. Why would they keep that bit of information hidden?"_ Before Serenity could think about it any further, Jun continued.

"You know what? This may sound strange but for some reason I see a bit of my brother in you. Isn't that strange?"

A moment of concern came across Serenity's face but she managed to get rid of it before it was noticed. "Not as strange as you might think." Before the conversation could continue, the sound of a huge vehicle stopping suddenly caught their attention. Having a feeling of dread sweep over her Serenity got out of bed and ignoring the pain that she was receiving from her wound headed towards the window.

Peering outside she spotted a large black van parked right at the apartment complex's doorsteps. Bursting from the back, several men came out. Each of them being suited up in full body armor and were heavily armed. Understanding what was going on, Serenity headed towards the front door.

"Where do you think you're going Serenity? Who are those guys?" questioned Jun who had been following close by. "Are those people some how connected with you?"

As much as Serenity wanted to tell her unknowing aunt the truth she knew that she couldn't tell her. "Trust me Jun, its best that you don't know. Just know that I appreciate the time that we shared. Now, do me a favor by staying here and not following me. Can you do that for me?" Reluctantly Jun nodded her head in understanding. "Thank you. Now it's time for me to go." Opening the door Serenity was about to leave but stopped short. "Maybe one day we'll see each other again. However, we shouldn't keep our hopes up."

Not wanting to risk the safety of her aunt and new found friend, Serenity headed off in the hopes that she would get away without incident. Unfortunately that wouldn't be the case as when she was going down the stairs a few of the armed men were coming up the stairs as the same time. Knowing that the obvious way was blocked she decided to come up with a different approach. However, before Serenity had the opportunity to take even a single step, she was met with the barrel end of multiple rifles on the top of the stairs.

"_Damn it. I forgot about the elevator."_ Serenity thought in anger about the stupidity of forgetting such a thing.

"Thankfully for us we did not." From the bottom of the stairs a man stood in front of the others. Removing his helmet he looked directly at Serenity. "By the order of the Takenaka Corporation, you, Serenity, are requested to be brought back to their facility." Walking over the apparent leader of the squad presented a pair of handcuffs in his hands. "It would be wise that you come along without difficulty."

"You're advice is duly noted." stated Serenity. "As for me actually following it, I would say no." To everyone's shock, Serenity leapt over the banister and fell six floors to the ground. Under normal circumstances a person would either become seriously injured but that wouldn't be the cause as Serenity landed safely on the ground.

Quickly following up such a move she quickly ran out of the building. She got about two blocks before the same black van stopped in front of her. It came so suddenly that Serenity wasn't prepared to maneuver away in time, thus she crashed into it with such force that she actually rolled over the van's hood.

Getting back on wobbly legs she came face to face with the same armor wearing men from earlier except that instead of rifles they were holding cattle prod like stun guns and police batons. Apparently they didn't want to risk any attention that would come with gunfire.

"Don't make things more difficult than you already have Serenity." For a moment it appeared as though Serenity was really considering on surrendering. That train of thought only lasted for a brief moment as she went on the offensive against her opposition. Despite that she heavily out numbered, Serenity was doing extremely well as she did in quick succession took out two or three people at once. On one occasion she punched a man in the gut and while the man was doubled over two more came after her from the other side of the guy.

Rolling over the top of the man's back she kicked one of the oncoming men. Capitalizing on the momentary distraction she grabbed the wrist of the two who was holding the stun guns. With a quick motion Serenity pressed both stun guns against each other. While the electrical charge wasn't lethal it was strong enough to render both of them unconscious. For added measure she gave the man who she hit earlier a punch in the face that caused him to join his two other comrades.

Try as she might the numbers would become too much for Serenity to handle as she got shocked multiple times at once. No matter how much she tried to fight the electricity that surged through her body had forced her to the ground.

Seeing that their target was contained for the moment the apparent squad leader walked over and knelt before Serenity. "You do know that you're making this tougher then it should be?"

"And do you know that you're a son of a bitch?" Serenity received more shocks from the stun gun for her snide remark.

"A stubborn one you are." On closer examination the squad leader notice the medical wrapping that was underneath Serenity's clothes. "Ah it seems as though you got wounded recently. A nice patch up job I see but something tells me that you didn't do it yourself. Could it perhaps been someone from that apartment building that you ran from?" He got his answer when he saw the worried expression that came over Serenity's face. She tried to hide it but it was too late. "Perhaps we should get that person and have a little discussion with them."

Knowing what they were getting at, Serenity began to fear the safety of Jun. _"They mustn't find out about her. If they were to discover who she was there's no doubt they'd use her to get to Daisuke and I can't allow that to happen. He's my target and mine alone."_ While that may have been the reason that she gave herself in the back of her mind knew that there was another reason. Before she could think about it any further the squad leader spoke up again.

"However, I might consider forgetting about whoever the person is if you come with us willingly." The proposition instantly caught Serenity's attention.

"If I go with you do you swear to do nothing to anyone else?" Thankfully Serenity was able to keep any type of pleading to seep into her voice.

"You have my word, if that means anything to you." Even though she hated to do it, Serenity surrendered herself over to the men. Having their target under their custody they quickly handcuffed her arms behind her before loaded into the van.

As they drove off Serenity looked out the back window and managed to spot Jun's apartment building. _"They may have gotten me but at least they did get her. At least I can have comfort in that."_

-/-/-/-/-

"Please, don't do this." pleaded a woman. Both her and her two young girls were walking thought the park as a shortcut home until they were blocked by two men who she could best described as horribly disfigured with terribly sharp looking teeth. "If you let us go I'll give you whatever you want."

The two men gave each other a knowing smirk. "Now, why would we let you leave when we already have what we want?" Before the woman had the chance to scream for help, one of the vamps silenced her with a hand around the throat. Watching their mother being basically strangled, the two young girls tried to come to her rescue but were stopped as the vampire's partner grabbed them from behind making them have no other choice but to watch as their mother was on the verge of being suffocate.

"It would be wise for you to let those people go." a sudden voice informed from the shadows. Stepping into the light came Daisuke with a seldom expression on his face. "I repeat, leave those people alone." Not seeing Daisuke as any real threat, the vamp was prepared to sink his teeth into the woman's tender flesh. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Becoming fed up with the constant interruptions the vampire went over to Daisuke while still maintaining his grip on the woman's neck.

"Now, you listen. You have until the count of three to walk away before you share these people's fate. One…two…thre-" Before he could finish he felt something stabbing him. Looking down he spotted a wooden stake plunge into his heart. Once realizing this, the vampire became nothing more than dust at the feet of Daisuke and the woman. With one down, Daisuke turned his attention toward the one final problem.

Noticing how easy his cohort was taken cared of the last vampire quickly placed the two girls in front of him and Daisuke. "Don't come any closer or I swear I'll break their necks." Even after hearing the threat Daisuke continued to walk towards him. "Don't you understand what I said? I'll kill them if you don't stop." To emphasize his threat he tightens his grip on the girls' necks. Fearing for the safety of her children, the mother attempted to save them but was being held back by Daisuke who finally stopped walking.

"Oh, I know that you'll back up your threat. But before that happens know this. If their necks are broken they'll be nothing left standing between you and I." There was an eerie calm in Daisuke's voice that couldn't help but freak those around him. "So ask yourself, are you willing to go ahead with the threat and the consequences that come along with it?"

When realizing that he was in a no win situation, the scared vamp slowly tried to back away only for every step he took Daisuke would match it. This could've went on for who knows how long until out of nowhere an arrow came flying in and striking the vamp right between the shoulder blades. Not being prepared for it the vampire instinctively reach back to remove the arrow and because of that it allowed the girls to get away.

With basically the human shields out of harm's way, Daisuke moved into action. Rushing over he drove a stake into the vampire's heart. Just like with what happened a few moments ago with his partner, he turned into a huge pile of ash. Having finish what he set out to do he put away his stake and was about to leave until someone called out to him.

"W-What were those people and what did you do to them?" questioned the mother but kept her children at a safe distance. Not knowing if they could fully trust their savior.

"It would be better if you didn't know." Daisuke simple answered. "Go home, forget about what happen here and take care." Figuring that was probably for the best both the mother and children headed off but before they could get far, the two children broke away from their mother's grasp and rushed back to Daisuke. Even after seeing what he did for them they each gave him a hug on each of his legs. Returning the gratitude he ruffled both of their hair before sending them back to their mother.

Soon he was standing alone in the park or so it appeared. "All right, you can come out now." Coming out of the shadows was none other than Hikari and in her hands was a crossbow. "Apparently you had some doubt in my ability in dealing with the situation."

"Of course I didn't." Hikari replied. "I just figured that it wouldn't hurt to have a little help if needed." With the night son coming to a close the two of them got into Daisuke's car and drove off. "Well, got anything from this adventure?"

"I killed two vampires." Daisuke answered without taking his eyes off the road. "It's not like I haven't done that before. What could I possibly get from that with the exception of getting rid of two blood suckers?"

"But by doing that you were able to save a mother and her kids. Didn't you see how grateful they were with you saving them?" It was hard to tell what Daisuke was thinking about that part since he didn't show any type of reaction what so ever. "Come on, there's no way that you can say that you didn't feel anything when those two little girls hugged you."

"I don't know what you're talking about." muttered Daisuke but it was obvious that he was lying.

"What I'm trying to get at is that you helped keep the people of Kyoto safe and not allowing them to know about the other side of the world. The world that's filled with monsters and demons who given the chance would most likely destroy this entire town." Hikari remained silent as she allowed what she said to sink in and it seemed like it did.

"Maybe you're right about me actually making a difference. But I just can't help it. I've been having these feeling for quite sometime. Not since he has been gone." Understanding who Daisuke was referring to, Hikari placed a comforting hand on his arm.

"I know what you mean, I feel the same way. However, we have to face the fact that Takeru's gone and there's nothing that we can do about it. The best we can do is continue what we've been doing and honoring his noble sacrifice."

This time Daisuke couldn't help but allow a small smile to appear. "Once again you're right Hikari. To continue the fight is the best way to honor Takeru. Also, my parting the grand battle between good versus evil is not done. When my time comes for me to exit, whether I live or die, I don't want to feel as though I left things unfulfilled."

For the rest of the drive nothing but silence went on between Daisuke and Hikari until they arrived to Hikari's apartment. "Well, goodnight Daisuke. Hopefully tonight's activities helped to clear some things for you."

"Actually, I think it did. The issues that I had are dealt with and now I can focus on more important things. See ya later Hikari." Saying their goodbyes, Daisuke drove off and in no time arrived home. As he headed for the front door he could hear the sound of his telephone ringing. Hurrying he entered and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Daisuke, where in the hell have you been? I've been trying to reach you all night." asked Ken with some irritation in his voice.

"I was out on patrol. What's so urgent that you're calling so late?"

"It's about the scrolls." That instantly caught Daisuke's attention. "I've just translated something that I believe you should know about." Noting the seriousness in his friend's voice, Daisuke listen closely to what Ken had to say.

"_**For the vampire with a soul the chance of humanity may come. But be for warn as another path that he may follow. A path that'll be scattered with the bloody bodies of those he once cared for. In the end he'll'' lead the world that he once set out to protect into destruction."**_

Dead silence was on both ends of the phone as Ken allowed what he said to get through while Daisuke didn't know how to respond. "Daisuke, I'm afraid there's no way to tell which of the prophecies will come true or when it'll happen. What do you wish to do with this knowledge?"

It was sometime until Daisuke was able to form any words. "For the time being let's keep this to ourselves. No need for the others to know."

"But why do you want to do that? Shouldn't the others be told about this?"

"I don't think so. If they knew it'll just cause them to worry. So for the time being we'll keep this to ourselves. Do you understand?"

"All right then. I'll do as you ask." It was no doubt that Ken hated what he was asked to do but went along with it.

After trading goodbyes Daisuke hung up the phone and stood there for what seemed like eternity. _"This is great, just great. When it appeared as though I would have fewer things to worry about this comes along. Apparently I can't get a break."

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That some chapter wasn't it? I realize that this chapter ended in somewhat of a cliffhanger but it couldn't be helped. Don't worry though as some of the questions that came from this chapter will be dealt with in the upcoming one, which I hope I'll have on sooner than later. So, please leave a review before you go and until next time, see ya.


	5. Crossing the Line

I have finally decided to put up the next chapter to my series and I must say that this is the last chapter to this particular part of my series. Hopefully I did a good job with it. Before starting, here is the disclaimer, I don't own digimon.

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_Each decision we make, each action we take, is born out of an intention.  
Sharon Salzberg, O Magazine, The Power of Intention, January 2004_

Chapter 5:  
Crossing the Line

It appeared to be a quiet night in the city of Kyoto. That wasn't really the case however a in the industrial area the sounds of what seemed like a struggle was taking place. Following the noise it was discovered to be coming from Daisuke as he fought against someone that he had dealt before.

"Come on, don't tell me that's the best you got." The one who he was fighting tried to stab him with a sword. "This is becoming pathetic. Why don't you just face facts that you can't beat me?"

Fed up with his constant taunting, the opposition swung their sword and made contact as it hit his neck. The force of the blow was strong that it actually cut clean through, resulting in Daisuke's head to fall to the ground.

Under normal circumstances when a vampire has its head cut off they would become dust but that wasn't the case here as the body and head remained. In fact, the decapitated head kept on talking. "Is that all you got? I hardly felt…a…thing." Apparently whatever was powering the Daisuke look-a-like had ran out as it became nothing more than a pile of junk.

"All right, I believe I had enough of this." Suddenly the entire area went all swirling and when it ended everything wasn't like it was a moment ago. Instead of standing in a city, the person was in a room completely covered in steel. As the swirling passed the Daisuke look-a-like it was revealed to be nothing more than a robot. Soon the sound of someone clapping could be heard. Focusing where it was coming from the person saw that it came from none other than Rowan Stevens.

"Congratulations. That was a fantastic work you did there Serenity." Indeed it was Serenity who had been the other person that had fought the Daisuke robot. Walking over Rowan picked up the decapitated robot head. "You really did a number on this training droid. Perhaps we should get you some tougher machines to work with."

To Rowan's surprise Serenity walked right pass her and out of the room without saying a word. Confused by her charge's sudden cold shoulder she followed where she headed off and finally caught up to her in her personal room doing nothing except sitting on her bed. "What's the problem Serenity? You've never been this cold to me before."

"Well, how do you expect me to act after basically being abducted by people who I believed that I could trust?" There was no doubt that Serenity was doing her best to force her anger on Rowan.

"What?! I don't know what you're talking about. Maybe you should start from the start so I can perhaps understand what's going on." For the next hour Serenity explained to Rowan about what happen just a few days ago. She told her about fighting the group of vampires, being treated by Jun, having to fight the retrieval team and then having to basically surrender herself to them in order to protect Jun from being captured as well. To say that after finisher her story that Rowan was upset would be an understatement.

"Those son of bitches! When you came back they told me that you were simply brought back because you were found injured. Why would they lie about that?"

"Who knows what their reason was. But how do I know that you're not lying to me right now about not knowing about this?"

Whatever anger that Rowan was feeling were momentarily forgotten when she heard that question. "Please tell me that you're not serious in thinking that I had something to do with what happen to you."

"And why shouldn't I?" questioned Serenity with a bit of anger in her voice. "After all, aren't you under the employment of the Takenaka Corporation?"

Controlling her anger that was building inside her, Rowan knelt down in front of Serenity. "Yes, I do work for them but you know that ever since you came to being I've helped to raise you as if you were my own child." With a deep breath Rowan pushed away the hostile feelings that she had. "When you came back from fighting Daisuke _I_ was the one who treated your injuries. I'm practically the only one who gives a damn whether you live or die. Do you believe after all the stuff we've been through I could actually betray you?"

A moment of uneasiness went by until Serenity finally answered. "Maybe you wouldn't but that still doesn't change the fact that I was force to do things that I didn't want to do by people that I thought I could trust."

With a half heavy sigh, Rowan decided to come out with what she knew. "Serenity, there's something that you should know about the people that you once trusted." Walking away from Serenity she went over to the computer that was installed in the room. After going what appeared to have been several protection programs she seemed to have finally reached what she was searching for. Gesturing Serenity she allowed her to see what she had found.

"After extensive amount of discussion the people of the Takenaka Corporation have come to the conclusion that on the matter of the project codenamed Serenity is to be terminated. The project, who's main purpose, was originally supposed to capture the subject named Daisuke Motomiya so he could be used for the purposes of the higher ups." For some unknown reason Serenity didn't like the reason why her lack for a better term her father was needed by the corporation.

"However, after the project fought the target the subject it showed weakness by not capturing Motomiya when the opportunity presented itself. That and many other circumstances have proven that the project is too much of a liability. Therefore within the week, the entire Serenity project, including the actual living subject, will be wiped out and erased."

Once Serenity had finish reading the report she felt completely numb as she had basically read her death sentence. Not wanting her to read another word, Rowan turned the computer off and focused back on her charged. "You have to listen to me Serenity. You can't allow what you just read get to you as we need to concentrate on you escaping because they're planning on 'terminating' you tomorrow night."

Those words seem to finally bring Serenity back to her senses. "Don't you mean we need to focus on the both of us escaping?"

"I'm afraid not. No doubt the higher ups already know about me showing you that report and there's no question that they'll be sending a team here to deal with you and to make sure that I suffer the consequences for betraying them." Despite the severity of the situation Rowan smiled tenderly at Serenity. Before that happens though I can at least make sure that you get out of this place alive."

"If you actually think that I'm going to leave you here to possibly die then you're crazy." exclaimed Serenity with an authority behind her words. "I may not have known the mother or whoever the woman whose blood runs through my veins I hope that she was as good as you have been to me."

Though deeply touch by Serenity's words, Rowan couldn't help but flinch on the inside. _"If only it was possible for you to know about your mother Serenity. Unfortunately, I believe knowing the truth would cause you nothing but pain."_ "Thank you for your kind words Serenity. But you do know that even though you don't have a mother you do have a father and perhaps he could help you now." The mere mention of her father immediately caused Serenity to groan in disapproval.

"You don't have to if you don't want to. Just remember that there is someone who could help if you need it." Understanding that there wasn't anymore time to waste, Rowan became even more serious. "Now get as much of your stuff as you can bring because we need to get moving."

After grabbing only the necessary items the two of them ran through the corridors in the hopes of escaping without being caught. "All right, everything looks good." informed Rowan as she peered over the area. "We just need to go out this hallway and we should be home free." No sooner did those words leave her mouth a squad of men dressed in protective armor came bursting through the door while being armed with stun guns. "Then again, I could be wrong."

Going in the opposite direction the two of them ran off with the men not too far behind them. Thankfully they managed to stay ahead and were able to barricade themselves in some dank room. "Why are we running?" asked Serenity as she braced herself against the door to prevent the men from getting in. "It'll be no problem for me to stop them."

"There's no doubt about you being able to do that." stated Rowan as she helped in keeping their enemies from coming in. "But remember, our main priority is to escape."

"Trust me, if it was that easy I would already have done it." exclaimed a completely different voice that came from the room that they were holding up in.

Making sure that it wasn't some sort of trap, Rowan carefully walked towards the source of the voice and peering into what appeared to be nothing more than a small containment room and saw a woman who looked as though had seen better days as she looked filthy. What was left of her tattered clothes barely covered her and appeared to not have a decent meal in sometime as she was practically skin and bones. "Who are you and what do you mean by what you said?"

"The name's Hitomi and what I meant is simple. Take a nice long look at where you are. You're in the Takenaka Corporation's holding facility where they keep their captives so they can torture them or make them join their side and they don't let up until they've gotten what they wanted. Trust me, I've been here for over a month and I haven't discovered a way to get out of this place unless they allow you to."

"That can't be true." exclaimed that sounded like she was trying to convince herself if anyone. "There must be some way to escape."

"Well, perhaps if you could unlock the door to my cell I could help you in getting out of here." It was apparent by Hitomi's voice that she was desperate for them to help her get out of her prison.

"Don't do it Rowan." hollered Serenity, who was beginning to struggle with holding the door close. "The higher ups may not be the kindest people in the world but they're no fools. They must've had a good reason for locking her up. We have no idea why she's here."

"Actually, I know exactly why she's here." informed Rowan with certainty in her voice. "She was the one who was in charge of dealing with the Daisuke situation before you came to be. However, after numerous failures she was sentence here just prior to your awakening Serenity. Because of that and with the situation that we're currently in, I have come to a decision." Reaching over to the key panel beside the door handle she did some sort of sequence and once finished the door became unlocked.

Not allowing the opportunity pass by, Hitomi rushed out of her cell. The feeling of having new found freedom was short lived as the door to their only way out was on the verge of collapsing. Searching around her surroundings, Rowan discovered some lead pipes leaning against eh wall. Grabbing two she held one out towards Hitomi. "This may sound a bit forward in me asking but I need to know if you're with us on this?"

For a short time there was no answer until finally Hitomi grabbed the pipe and stood up. "I'm in." Coming to the realization that there was no other choice but to fight, Serenity stepped away and prepared herself to what was to come.

With nothing holding them back anymore the guards were finally able to break through and were confronted by three women instead of the predicted two. Going on the offensive, the three women fought against the guards and were putting up a good fight despite being out numbered. Out of the three there was no doubt that the one doing the most damage was Serenity as she was fighting against numerous guards at once.

"This is crazy." Remarked Serenity as she threw one of the guards over her shoulder and into one of his comrades. "No matter how many times we knock these guys down they keep coming back."

"Then you should get out of here while you have the chance." exclaimed Rowan as she fought against a guard. "Get out of here Serenity. We'll keep them held up to allow you the time to escape."

"Are you nuts? There's no way I'm going to leave you here to possible get killed."

"There's no time to debate this. What happens to me is irrelevant. What does matter is that you get away before they can do what they can do what they have plan for you. Now, get going!"

Reluctant to the whole idea of running off, Serenity hesitated for a moment until seeing that it was probably the best decision she broke pass the guards and out the doorway before they could stop her. "You do realize that with her gone we're sure to be on the losing end of this fight?" asked Hitomi as it was now just her and Rowan up against every guard in the room.

"That'll probably be the case but at least we'll go down fighting. Wouldn't you agree?" Without warning, Rowan was struck in the back of the head with something and the force of the blow was so strong that it rendered her unconscious. The one responsible for the blow was not one of the guards but her partner Hitomi with a now a extremely dented pipe.

"As a matter of fact, I don't." Soon all the guards had the two of them surrounded. "Don't worry, I give up." Proving that she was telling the truth she threw down the pipe and put her hands in the air. "Just give me a meeting with the higher ups. That's all I ask." For a while the guards seem a bit reluctant with the request until one of their walkie-talkies went off. Answering the call, the apparent head guard had a quick discussion with whoever was on the other end.

"All right everyone, I'll be taking Miss Hitomi to the main conversance room for her requested meeting." He got no argument from any of his subordinates. "As for the rest of you, escort this traitor into a holding cell and make sure that she doesn't escape."

Following their orders the guards took the unconscious Rowan in the very same holding cell that Hitomi once occupied. "I think it would be wise that we head toward the meeting before there's trouble." Agreeing, Hitomi headed out of the room, not once looking back at the person who had basically rescued her moments ago.

-/-/-/-/-

"There she is!" shouted some soldier that was taking watch. "Don't let her escape." All around the exit that lead to the alley of the Takenaka Corporation building a squad of highly skilled sharpshooters were waiting for the appearance of their target, Serenity. They didn't have to wait long as she suddenly burst into the scene and trying to make a clean getaway. That wouldn't be the case however as she was quickly spotted by the sharpshooters who immediately opened fire.

Using every bit of speed that she had in her disposal, Serenity avoided the shots that were being fired. It appeared as though she was going to make it without being hit until she was suddenly struck in the left shoulder but it didn't appear to be a bullet. Ignoring the pain that she was feeling, she continued to run off and was able to make it to safety.

Seeing that their target had gotten away one of the sharpshooters contacted his superior. "Sir, I'm afraid to report that the target has escape and we are unable to pursue her."

"Are you saying that she got away scot-free?" was the response from the other side of the walkie-talkie.

"Not necessarily. We managed to tag her before she was able to get away."

"That's good to hear. For the time being report back in. We'll locate the target on a later day. But for now we'll regroup for things to come." Receiving the orders everyone headed to their original posts, not worrying about the fate of the prey that had gotten away.

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On an alleyway several blocks away Serenity clutching her left shoulder looked towards where the Takenaka Corporation building was. Many thoughts went through her head about what had happened. _"Where are Rowan and Hitomi? Were they able to escape? Did they get captured or worse? Why did those bastards allow me to get away and not bother to come after me?"_

Those and many other thoughts were going through Serenity's head. Pulling back her hand from her hurt shoulder she saw that it was nearly covered in blood. Placing the hand back on her shoulder she took one last look towards where the building was before walking off but there was one question that she didn't know the answer to. _"What am I going to do now?"_

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"I can't tell you how good it feels to be wearing clean set of clothes." exclaimed a woman from within a charging room.

"That's good to hear." responded one of the higher ups by the use of a monitor. "Now, you do know that not many others are given the opportunity that you've been given?"

"Yes. I know this and I know of the consequences if I blow this." Having finished changing the woman came out from the dressing room.

"Do make sure that you don't forget because there won't be any other chances if you fail us again, Miss Hitomi."

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I bet some of you were expecting that. Some of you were wondering if I was going to have Hitomi reappear in this series and well, here is your answer. 

If you wish to know what happens next you just have to wait until I have the next story of this series on which will be entitled, 'Battles Close To Home'. Trust me, the title will make more sense when you read it. Please remember to leave a review before leaving.


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